


2177: Akuze

by thedas_scribe (wshall)



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Akuze, Hospital, Mass Effect - Freeform, Recovery, Sole Survivor, colonist, marley shepard, possibly a one shot, thresher maw, thresher maw attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:07:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9892817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wshall/pseuds/thedas_scribe
Summary: What happened to Marley Shepard's unit on Akuze.  Most likely a one-shot, but I have other plans, so not sure yet.





	

The colony was silent. So silent, in fact, that you could hear the high winds blowing miles before you felt it push against your suit. We were sent to the planet to find out why the colony's inhabitants suddenly stopped responding to any communication. By all accounts prior to arrival, it was as if they put the outside world on mute. When we got there, we discovered there was not a single soul in sight, save for bugs and an occasional pyjack. I wasn't in command of the patrol, not by a long shot. I was just infantry, but infantry with extensive knowledge of first aid, linguistics, and technology. Out of fifty soldiers, there were four of us with the official role of medical technician.

The sun was going down quick, and we decided to make camp inside of a couple of bi-level pods that were joined by a mutual walkway. Half of us slept while the other half kept watch and continued looking for answers to the colonists' disappearance. It was a few hours later that we felt the ground tremble, then heard sounds of the ground shaking and breaking, and screams from our squad mates. We got up as fast as we could, a lot of us rushing out to assist, only to be swallowed by giant wormlike creatures (called Thresher Maws)…

\---

"Shepard!!! Get out of there!!" 

Marley felt the top pod she was in collapse downward and into the level below. She could hear the sounds of bodies being crushed beneath it, and she screamed in terror. The maw was close enough to touch while it passed toward the next set of pods. She began to jump out behind it, only to be launched twenty feet in the air by another maw whose wide open jowls missed her by inches. She rolled when she landed, but it still took the wind out of her. Grasping for air and her rifle, she ran toward two soldiers in the middle of the common area in the center of the colony. 

"Blake!!" She shouted. "I'm coming!" She was almost there when a third maw thrust forth through the ground, shooting up at least ten feet before turning and dropping straight down on top of them. It bit down on the soldier she was shouting at, severing him in half. "OH GOD!!" She began spraying bullets toward the maw, but one leapt in between her and the other one. Olive green blood and goop exploded from its tight skin, covering her in the rancid acid. Some of it got in her mouth, nose, and eyes. She began convulsing and eventually threw up, but she didn't stop running. 

There was a small circular slab of cement several yards away, about fifteen feet across, with a large empty crate in it. All she could think about was getting to that crate. She fired defensive shots into a maw that leapt out in front of her, then tossed her back a short distance. There had to be at least six maws ravaging the place. They all seemed to be working as a team to devour every soldier in the area. When another one tore through the ground, it bit the sole of her boot, ripping it apart from her armored suit. Urine soaked her crotch and legs, but she didn't stop running. 

She reached the slab, finally, and dove into the crate, then curled down upon her knees, eyes tightly closed. She was too scared to cry, but her body trembled as if she were. She heard the sound of a shuttle, and over her radio, she heard an officer calling for any survivors. She couldn't respond. Somehow, they saw her in the crate, and encouraged her to try. Marley peeked fearfully from her hiding place and saw the shuttle hovering over the landing area, a good twenty or so yards from her place. "You gotta do this, Shep, come on…" She kept thinking to herself. "You are not going to die today. You must move or you will die…" She found and chucked a cinder block in the opposite direction, and a handful of maws descended upon it from the earth. It was enough to give her the courage to run the distance -- to run for her life. 

She climbed into the shuttle, and the door closed as it took off. She returned to fetal position on the shuttle floor. When an officer put his hand on her back, she tightened the ball she was in and began screaming. One officer wrapped her in a blanket while another held her tightly in it. "You're okay, Shepard," she told her. "We're going home." She felt a slight prick in her upper arm, and everything went dark.

After an hour into the trip, Marley woke up. She must have passed out, as she was now laying flat on the floor, armor off, completely wrapped in blankets, and decently cleaned up. There was a banana bag intravenously inserted into the back of her right hand, and she was most likely slightly sedated, as well. The woman who held her was sitting by her head. 

"You okay, Lieutenant?" 

"I don't...know." She was still out of it. 

"What happened?"

"Maws…"

"It was terrible, we saw the end of it."

"Who made it?"

"You were the only one."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Shepard, nobody made it out alive."

"What about...colonists…" 

"Still gone. No idea what happened to them."

"God...no…"

"Get some rest, we're due at Arcturus very soon."

Marley felt a tear fall from her eye and down her temple. She could see a nebula through the window, but there wasn't enough of a view to know which one. It was beautiful, though. Red and blue with green blended in and around it. She thought about her squadron. Gone. Perished. Demolished. And how they're at least not suffering, now, no matter how terrified they must have been. And now, they're stars, too. When she was a child, her mother told her that when a person dies, God makes a new star in their place. When many die, the stars are made close together so that they will never be alone. 

"You okay?" The woman asked her. 

Marley went to reply, but her thumb was in her mouth. "Sorry. I don't know." 

"Want me to give you another shot of sedative? It'll help you sleep until we get you to the hospital."

Marley looked out the window, again, and back at the woman. After a moment, she returned her thumb to her mouth and nodded. Within seconds, she was asleep.

\--

The next time she opened her eyes, Marley was clean as a whistle, hair still slightly damp. She was laying in a hospital room that had a view of the same nebula. 

"Great view of Omega, isn't it?" Marley jumped a bit at the woman's voice. She was an older woman with bright green eyes and a silver pageboy hair cut. "I'm so sorry, dear, I didn't mean to startle you." She placed a data pad on a table by the bed and extended her hand, which Marley took in appreciation.

"It's okay."

"I'm Karin Chakwas, and I'll be seeing you through your recovery. You are physically fine, aside from a few scrapes and bruises, so most of my work is done. But your mind is going to be what needs the most attention. I'm here to encourage you to talk it out as best as you can. Surviving something like that is heroic, but it is still traumatic."

'To survive?' Marley thought. 'Hardly heroic.' "I pissed myself. That's not heroic."

"I'd probably have shat myself, too, had I been in your shoes."

"Shoe. The other one was bitten off." 

"But not your leg. Don't minimalize your tenacity, but capitalize on it."

"Hah. Thanks."

\--

It had been two weeks since the attack on Akuze. Marley was recovering quite nicely, as she was able to discuss the more intimate details with Dr. Chakwas, a commanding officer, and a chaplain. Getting the details out seemed to be all she had to do, though she wished there was some way to honor the memory of those who fell.

"Doctor," Marley began. "May I ask you some questions?"

Dr. Chakwas lit up. "You want to visit?"

"Yes, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, dear." She pulled a chair up to her bedside and leaned forward. "What would you like to talk about?"

"What brought you to Arcturus?"

"The ship I was assigned to was decommissioned, and I'm on furlough. Lucky for me and the rest of the crew, we were simply reassigned, and I was asked to remain on the station. While I'm here, I'm learning a bit about intra- and extra-species medicine."

"How long have you been in?"

"Since I graduated med school back in…2154, I think."

"Wow, that's as long as I've been alive."

Dr. Chakwas laughed. "Thanks for reminding me of my age!"

"I think it's commendable that you've been here that long."

"What about you, Lieutenant, when did you sign on?"

"When I turned eighteen, four years ago."

"And you're already an officer, not bad."

"I think I was lucky. My home was attacked by pirates, and I finished high school through a military program, then I went through basic training and split time on earth doing basic patrols and Officer's school. Akuze was my second interstellar mission."

"Oh, I see. Career-oriented, then?"

"I don't have much else going for me, Doctor."

"You have you going for you, Lieutenant. That is something many people can't say they have."

"I guess so." 

"You have a strong will to live that is so rare, even among the elite. You said it yourself. You rooted yourself into at least trying to get to that shuttle, and you did. And two weeks later, you're already moving around, visiting with other patients, speaking candidly with counseling staff…you're quite an amazing young woman, if I may say so."

Marley blushed. "Careful, Doctor, you might give me an ego."

Dr. Chakwas patted her on the leg. "I believe you have earned one, by this point."


End file.
